Glastonbury 2014

Life's been pretty busy since we got back, so am only writing Glastonbury up now...

We arrived on site just before midnight, and I managed to get the awning up without too much stress. Getting the kids back to sleep was another matter as they were (understandably) overexcited! We started queuing to get in at around 11am the next day, and were in within half an hour - I think more and more people are starting to get there for first thing on Wednesday, but it wasn't raining and people were in a good mood.

As tradition dictates, we headed to the West Holts field for a pear cider and La Grande Bouffe for lunch, followed by buying a silly hat to wear for the festival. We then wandered around for a while exploring and enjoying the atmosphere. Anna had a go at some glass blowing and Nicky and Kitty made some keyrings in the Green Crafts field. We did see a couple of acts on the Wednesday at the Bandstand -Thrill Collins and The Drystones, both of which were good.

The Drystones at the Bandstand

Thursday saw the Green Kids area and the Kidz Field open, so we spent most of the day in those two areas. Nicky finally got to go on the pirate ship after years of waiting!

The pirate ship in the Green Kids area

We saw a few shows in the Kidz Field, including 'What The Ladybird Heard' (which was very good and had a very catchy song which we're still singing!) and 'The Cat In The Hat'. We also saw Alex from CBeebies doing a show with Mr. Yipadee. Just before this, Nicky got to meet Alex and have his picture taken with the class cuddly toy!

Nicky with Alex from CBeebies

Towards the end of the day we stumbled upon Mik Artistik in the Fluffy Rock Cafe (which we did last year too) and caught the end of his set, with Nicky and Kitty both being delighted at hearing 'The Lights Are On'!

Friday was the first proper day for bands - first up were the Kaiser Chiefs at the Other Stage, who were pretty good and seemed up for it.

Kaiser Chiefs at the Other Stage

After that we headed to West Holts to see Jonny Greenwood and the London Sinfonietta (via the Growler stall, obviously!) We saw the last ten minutes of their performance, although I have no idea whereabouts Jonny Greenwood actually was on stage.

Jonny Greenwood and the London Sinfonietta at West Holts

We then headed for the Kidz Field, via the Gateway Riser where Mik Artistik was performing. He was as brilliant as ever, and even gave Nicky one of his straws!

Mik Artistik Ego's Trip at the Gateway Riser

We then all tried our hand at various circus skills in the Kidz Field, and Nicky also had a go at playing the guitar and violin. We also saw 'What The Ladybird Heard' again.

Afterwards we headed to the Pyramid Stage to have something to eat, and see a bit of De La Soul - I can't say I'd necessarily listen to them through choice, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

De La Soul at the Pyramid Stage

The plan was to head to the Other Stage to see Paolo Nutini, but they were overrunning due to earlier power cuts, so we ended up seeing the end of Interpol. We really didn't want to hang around for half an hour, especially as the kids were starting to play up, so instead we headed back and stumbled across Billy Bragg in the Left Field tent, who was really good.

Billy Bragg in the Left Field tent

We had no interest in seeing any of the headliners on Friday (Arcade Fire? Zzzzz) so instead had an early night in preparation for Saturday, which was going to be long.

We spent the first part of Saturday wandering around and doing things in the Green Kids area, as we weren't in any rush to get anywhere. The first band we saw were the Dodge Brothers in the Croissant Neuf tent. For some reason I neglected to take any photos, instead only getting some of their famous bass player tuning up.

Mark Kermode tuning up

The Dodge Brothers were actually really good - we'd only turned up to see Mark Kermode but in the end we really enjoyed it. After this followed more Kidz Field, before wandering past the Pyramid Stage to see Robert Plant. We only stayed for a few songs, and of course just as we left the stage the Whole Lotta Love riff started...

Robert Plant at the Pyramid Stage

Time for the main event (for us) - the Manics at the Other Stage. Things did not start well - Rory threw up practically as they started playing Motorcycle Emptiness! But he seemed happier after that so we could enjoy the set. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've seen PCP, and the new songs sounded really good too. Of course, we had to stand through Everything Must Go *again*, but overall it was great, and the band seemed to enjoy it too.

Manic Street Preachers at the Other Stage

From here came the trek to the back of the Pyramid Stage in readiness for Metallica. We managed to catch the end of Jack White, who finished with Seven Nation Army, much to Nicky's delight! After this we set up camp at the back, but we needn't have done so - whilst busy, the back of the Pyramid Stage area was relatively quiet compared to how it has been for other headliners. Nicky and Kitty were getting in the mood for some rock:

Getting ready for Metallica!

Metallica's set started with the strangest video I've ever seen, featuring a hunt and members of the band dressed as bears killing the huntsmen! Following this though was an awesome set, I don't know every song but the band were clearly having the time of their lives and they put on a great show.

Metallic at the Pyramid Stage

Sunday was a slightly quieter day, mainly as we were all knackered! It started early with the English National Ballet at the Pyramid Stage, introduced by a Billy Bragg song.

Billy Bragg introducing the English National Ballet

After this came one final trip to the Kidz Field, before heading back to the Pyramid Stage for the one and only Dolly Parton. It seemed everyone on site was also heading there - in 9 visits I've never seen so many people at the Pyramid, not even for the Stones last year. Dolly Parton put on a great show - I don't think she was miming, but it's difficult to tell from that far back. Even if she was, everyone was having a great time anyway! She introduced Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi to play a Bon Jovi song - the closest I've got to seeing Bon Jovi, maybe they'll play next year?

Dolly Parton at the Pyramid Stage

We dashed off at the end to try and see Jake Bugg in the Acoustic Tent as Nicky is a big fan, but he'd fallen asleep by the time we got there! He did wake up to see the last few songs though.

The final two acts were The Black Keys and Kasabian, both at the Pyramid Stage.

The Black Keys at the Pyramid Stage

It was difficult to watch The Black Keys as the kids were overexcited and running all over the place, but it didn't really matter as they were enjoying themselves. It did mean though that Nicky wore himself out and didn't get to see Kasabian at all. Kitty however watched practically the whole set.

Counting down to Kasabian at the Pyramid Stage

Kasabian had a timer counting down to show time - what a great idea, every band should do this! I must admit, I hadn't expected to enjoy Kasabian quite that much, but they were great - I knew practically every song and the crowd were really up for it, when Tom Meighan was encouraging the crowd to jump, they were doing it all the way to the back! Kitty liked the rainbow lasers which shot out right near our heads.

We headed back to the caravan, absolutely worn out. We went via the Acoustic Tent so I got to hear a couple of Suzanne Vega songs, songs which I knew but had no idea they were by her.

We managed to get off site just before 6, and despite heavy traffic near Stonehenge we managed to get home without too much bother. It was a long festival, and quite a lot of hard work with the kids, but it was still enjoyable with many memorable moments. No doubt we'll be trying again for tickets next year!

There are a few more photos and videos from Glastonbury in this Google+ album.

Keane Ingram

A father of three and husband of one. I enjoy spending time with my family, staying active (especially cycling, running and capoeira) and playing video games. I also enjoy reading and watching films.

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About Me

I'm a Computer Science graduate from the University of York, with experience of working with legacy and modern high-volume real-time systems, and I'm currently working as a quality analyst and web developer.